Regular HR compliance audits are key to keeping your business running legally, optimally, and smoothly. The problem? Maintaining awareness and congruence with an HR Audit checklist can be difficult since there are so many considerations to be made. That’s why the team at Bambee put together the ultimate audit checklist, to help you ensure compliance across your organization no matter the size or scale.
Read on to learn more about what an HR audit is, what impact it can have on your business, and the steps needed to run a full HR audit using our HR compliance audit checklist process.
What is an HR audit and why is it important?
An HR audit is a valuable tool that can help stakeholders understand the strengths and weaknesses within an organization, specifically within the HR department’s scope. Human resources is generally a key spot for compliance missteps, due to the sheer volume of documentation, policy creation and procedural maintenance that happens in this area of the business.
Addressing these effectively and preventatively using your strategically created audit can have a positive “ripple” effect in every area of business, including critical focuses, such as employee management and operations as a whole.
If you’re not sure where to start, check out below the steps of an audit and the key areas of focus for an effective HR compliance audit. This will serve as a strong starting point to getting your business compliant and in good operating order.
1. Employee management
Your employees are critical assets to your business. Ensuring compliance here can go a long way toward a happy, healthy, and productive workplace culture. Questions to ask or areas of focus include:
- Is there a clearly-defined onboarding process that helps effectively integrate team members?
- Is there a training “tracker” in place to document corporate growth and advancement? Is there an employee training plan in place?
- Is there an employee handbook and onboarding documents that are given out? Do these adhere to all employment laws and company standards?
- Are there compensation tiers that have been established? Are all compensation levels congruent with the national pay scale?
- Is there adequate DEI or mandated training documentation (i.e. sexual harassment training) being held in a compliant way?
- Are there consistent employee standards for promotion in a compliant way?
2. Safety and security
A safe workplace contributes positively to your workplace culture and is required by law. Implementing ongoing safety and security “checks” into your HR audit checklist can be a helpful step to maintaining compliance and employee satisfaction. You can include areas of focus such as:
- Current health and safety measures upheld in the company
- References against OSHA’s current standards to ensure congruence and compliance
- Documentation around employee complaint procedures
- Workers comp information, execution, and relevant documentation
- Information and documentation around state labor laws and compliance
3. Recordkeeping and admin
Beyond employee management and compensation, HR professionals are often required to upkeep specific types of recordkeeping and administrative tasks. Including these touchpoints in your HR audit checklist can save you a lot of time later on.
- Does the company currently keep documentation around key employee benefits (such as FMLA, Workers Comp, and PTO?)
- Does the company have current standards that indicate how long employee files are to be stored (and how they are to be managed?)
- Are all personnel files current? Are they kept in a congruent way?
Frequently Asked Questions about HR compliance audits:
How do I prepare for an HR audit?
To complete a thorough HR audit, consider using a HR compliance audit checklist to help you to determine the scope. As you do this, you’ll likely find that the biggest area of focus in an HR audit is generally the question of compliance.
To get ahead of this concern, you’ll want to be sure that everything has been filed, completed, and is currently up-to-date. Key areas to check can include any mandatory training’s status of completion (and its related documentation), employee-related paperwork (such as forms and agreements), and compensation items — such as processes, management, and execution.
What is an HR compliance checklist?
An HR audit checklist is a document that can help you to stay congruent and focused in your HR audit efforts, keeping you as efficient as possible as you move through the mandatory areas of need.
Put your HR on autopilot with Bambee
Looking for support with your HR audit checklist? Connect with the team at Bambee today. You can book your own dedicated HR manager for just $99/month, keeping you compliant, efficient, and employee-forward. For more information about annual and comprehensive HR audits, or to answer questions regarding HR concerns in your workplace, please visit our website. We look forward to serving you.
